I've been offended by Bill Maher several times before, but it was likely because of my misinterpretation of his intense hatred of George W. Bush. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert usually make mincemeat of their guests. But in three recent cases, I was surprised at how much these political satire hosts enjoyed their conversations with Ron Paul, and how well he held his own. I guess maybe Jon, Bill, Stephen, Ron, and I have something in common--we don't much care for the establishment. That's why Ron Paul makes such a great presidential candidate.
Ron Paul was recently a guest of The Colbert Report.
Here are some of the highlights of the conversation he had with Stephen Colbert.
"I'd rather be free and alive, and you can be." He said that Republicans deserved to lose the last election, because they did not follow the Constituion. "I ran
away from the President, and I won." "All these wars [on terrorism, drugs, and poverty] are just to scare the people into giving up their liberties." See the interview below.
Bill Maher announced recently on his show that "Ron Paul is My New Hero!"
The host asked Representative Paul, "If America was a smarter country, wouldn't you be leading in the polls?" Ron Paul said, among other things, that "We should spread [liberty and democracy] with a good example[, not by force]."
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
On The Daily Show, host Jon Stewart said of and to Ron Paul "Consistent, principled, integrity. Americans don't usually go for that." One of Representative Paul's most enlightening statements of the interview was "Militarism is the opposite of defense," meaning that the Constitution allows the country to defend itself, but that's not what we've been doing for the last several years.
This is what I dislike about Bill Maher: his condescending attitude toward average Americans. It pervades his every comment. For example, he says, in essence, that Americans are too stupid and corrupt to vote for Ron Paul. That is hardly the type of endorsement a candidate should want.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying anything about Paul with this next statement; I'm merely making an observation. Candidates that distrust and hate people should not expect to be elected. Pundits that distrust and hate people should not expect people to tune into their programs. And that cuts pretty much across all party lines.
I actually think Ron Paul did a good job of not buying into Maher's statement. Maybe he should have been more emphatic that it was an untrue statement. I think Ron Paul expects that there ARE a lot of intelligent people out there, who just haven't really had much of a choice lately when it comes to presidential candidates.
ReplyDeleteIt's exciting that now they do!
His attitude may be condescending, but in a way, Maher does have a point. We as an American people haven't been doing our duty in upholding the Constitution and holding our representatives accountable. Power has been so far removed from the people, hoarding in the executive, that we feel that we can't do anything about all the poor decisions being made by government, and so we let things go time and time again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Frank. It's nice to have a candidate that will bring the power back to the people--exactly what the Founders intended.
Thanks, Connor. Another point about this election: it has become banal, but people still say it regularly, to wit that we have to vote for someone who has a chance of winning. I agree, but my definition of who has a chance of winning is completely different than theirs. They would say, don't vote for Ron Paul, because he can't win. I say, if as many people as who really think he's the best candidate would vote for him he DOES have a chance of winning. They say, "don't throw away your vote." To which I say, "You throw away your vote when you throw away your integrity by not voting for the best candidate."
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. Vote your conscience. When enough people actually do that, it will make a difference. Still, it can feel lonely in the meantime.
ReplyDeleteWe need to create a national "Vote your conscience lonely voter" convention. Someday it may rival The Yearly Kos convention!
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